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So? Can anyone remember this brand from back in the day? Cast your mind back (if your old enough) circa 1995/6, ‘So Kiss Me’ was a much coveted body mist often found frequenting the (usually enormous, yet half empty) handbag of teenage girls throughout the nation! Ah the nostalgia!

Well, anyway- they are back… And tipped to be the next big beauty must have, body mists are an affordable way to smell divine without bankrupting yourself!

So? are kicking off the retro of the body mist by bringing us 6 new flavours and I was fortunate enough to be invited to the ‘reveal’ launch party, held at Icetank in London! I attended with my trusty blogger babes in tow – Vicky, Annie and Lee! We were able to smell and sample the fragrances and were offered themed mocktails and surprisingly tasty vegan canapés to boot! They even had a Photo Booth (one of my favourite things to do basically)….

Here are the fragrances:

The fragrances themselves are feminine, fruity, floral and fragrant (see what I did there?). Here are some descriptions for you to imagine such scents combined in one bottle!

Floriental: Floral and Fruity – (deep breath) starting off with Apple, Pear and Mandarin and moving into the scents of Freesia, Violet, Amber and Caramel to end! Wowzers!

Vanilla Milkshake is by far my favourite scent followed closely by Watermelon! I was given a goody bag with some to try and I must say they wear pretty well! I even gave my teenage niece some to wear at college and it got her mark of approval as being a long lasting fragrance!

Overall

These are an affordable, drug store alternative to expensive perfumes but still offer a quality and lasting fragrance – well worth their £3.99 for 100ml price tag!

So? Body mists go on sale on September 26th in Superdrug so not long to wait until you can go and try for yourselves. you can follow so? on social media @Sowithattitude and check out their website here.

Body mists are set to be bang on trend so go and jump on it… and of course let me know your thoughts!?

Mwah xxx

Note: As previously mentioned I was given some So? Body Mists at the event for the purposes of review. I am in not in anyway affiliated with So? or Superdrug. xxx

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September brings Autumn- great fashion- woolly jumpers, deep purples and plums and also very simply, more time….

More time in which to blog once more for you lovely’s- my post this time is going to be telling you all about a great event I was lucky enough to attend this week- the KISS launch party!

It was held at the beautiful soho hotel in London and I attended with my gorgeous girlies Annie, Jamie and Lee!

The event was held in what seemed to be the penthouse suite of the hotel meaning it was gorgeous and had amazing views of the sunset. We were spoilt with canapés and free flowing wine while we had the chance to try some of the gorgeous kiss lashes and press on nails!

Jess Wright from towie was also at the event and it was great to meet her as well as some other amazing bloggers here are some pictures from the evening!

The lashes!

There were so many different lash styles and we were able to sample a few and have them fitted by expert make up artists.

Now I love lashes which don’t have a large band meaning they fit perfectly to my eye shape and I can’t feel them or see them in my peripheral vision. I chose peony lashes and these are super wispy (my favourite type of lashes) and light on the eyes. I actually love them! This event was showcasing their new blooming lash range- the lashes in this range are beautiful named daisy, peony and Lily! I love super wispy but natural lashes so I was reccomended the peony lashes. The lashes in this range are layered for maximum effect – this gives the illusion of a double stacked lash butwoth a single lightweight band! Perfect for me!

For people wanting a more voluminous look they have the volume range with the ritzy lashes and at the other end of the scale of you want something a bit more natural go for the so natural lashes in sultry! My gorgeous friend Lee has an east Asian eye shape so for her the natural sultry lashes worked amazingly!

Lashes

Nails

We were treated to a manicure using kiss impress press on manicure acrylic nails or kiss gel fantasy nails. which are waterproof and long lasting! You can apply these yourself and they come in a range of designs from glittery to sparkly to French they have a high shine with a pre cured too gel and can be worn for up to 7 days! Here are the lovely Annie’s nails after her manicure!

Kiss lashes are avaliable in both super drug and boots from just £4.49 and they have a current deal on! Kiss salon acrylic nails in boots from £5.98 and impress nails are in asda from £5.98

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Wow…What a Hiatus!!! I apologise very sincerely for not blogging for so many weeks. I’ll be honest- I lost my blogging mojo temporarily due to work and various other kids stresses! I won’t bore you with the gorey details but I’m back now with a bang! Today’s post is on my troubles with finding the perfect nude liquid lipsticks!

Now, being a person of colour, I have come to accept that not every nude lipstick works well for me! It can actually be quite hard to find the right nude for a lot of us and being totally frank a lot of the ever popular Kylie Jenner style mauve/pinky/ browny nudes are the exact same colour as my top lip! This results in it looking like it looking distinctly like I’m wearing concealer on my lips if i just plonk it on! Another issue I face is that my lips are actually quite different in colour. My top lip is darker- that sort of pinky mauvey brown I mentioned earlier, but then my bottom lip has is a lot more red/pink in it- this is also common if people with mixed or darker skins. It can make it difficult for nudes to work well also! But, have no fear people- there is a way for it to work!

I have bought tried and tested so many nudes – I’ve built up quite a collection over the past year or so in search of the right nude!

I was determined to make it work and to find the right lipstick for me, and after trialing testing and gleaning information from all sorts of people in the know- I found out how to rock almost any nude regardless of skin or lip colour.

Lip Liner is key!

So, sticking to this fundamental rule makes it possible to wear almost any nude. Always use a liner. If you feel like the colour your wearing is too light or too contrasting for your skin tone you can try using a darker liner or even a darker shade of lipstick round the outside of your lips. This offers a contrast to your skin tone and the colour! You can even ombré the two colour together beautifully- this works particularly well if your bottom and top lips are different colours like mine are.

It’s all about finding the right liner for your colouring and for what your trying to achieve. Kylie Jenner ‘Lip kits’ are so expensive because the come with a liner as well as a liquid lipstick- but my beef with that is, the liner which comes with the kit (which is nice and creamy in texture to be fair but not dissimilar to the Colourpop liners) is the EXACT same colour as the actual lipstick. This is great for someone wanting to over line their lips to make them appear fuller but no good for someone like me who already has full lips and darker skin and thus needing to break the colour up from the skin tone. If you already have full lips, nudes will make them look even fuller- which can be a blessing or a curse whichever way you look at it! Personally I like to use a liner a shade or two darker than whatever colour I’m applying to break it up a bit.

The liners I always use are MAC Chestnut, MAC Stone or Whirl. I’ve also heard a lot of people with fairer complexions like to use MAC Soar or MAC Spice to line their lips with. These are all nice brown shades,-Stone is a very cool grey toned liner, Chestnut is an intense neutral brown and Whirl, Soar and spice are more mid toned pinky or mauve browns! I find they work best to break up my lips and skin tone!

My all time favourite nudes for colour, longevity and texture (with swatches from left to right and links) are:

Can you tell I like my cool toned nudes? I find they suit me better- I’m not actually sure why? I guess it’s because I have a very warm, yellow undertone to my skin and cool tones are contrasting? I dunno but anyway they seem to work for me!

What nudes do you like? Warm, or cool? What are your favourite lipsticks and why! Do you have any hints or tips on choosing the perfect nude for you? Let me know!

Hope today is a happy chilled Sunday for you too- I’m still in my pyjamas as I’m shattered from yesterday! Also it’s Father’s day here in England so Happy Father’s Day all!!!

So this blog post is going to be on The Bloggers Ball 2016 which I attended yesterday- if your a blogger you may be interested in this post and details of how to attend will be at the bottom of the post, even if your not a blogger then this post will give you some insight into what we bloggers get up to when we have some time!

So what is the bloggers ball?

It’s literally just that! an event, designed for bloggers or aspiring bloggers to attend, meet and greet, let their hair down, network and have some fun. Seriously guys, this is one event I would encourage you all to go to. Think 400 blogging professionals and creatives, a large selection of gorgeous, creative and inspiring brands all with giveaways and goody bags prepared for bloggers to write on, wine and canapés (of course) all together under one roof, and set in in the decadent and classy DSTRKT club in Piccadilly London. I whole heartedly thank the wonderful Scarlett London for organising this wonderful event and I can’t wait for the next one.

I was invited along by my friend and fellow blogger Jamie from at Tannedbeautyaddict blog, we also met up with a few of our blogger babes; Annie also known as Musingsofamakeupjunkie, the lovely Victoria from Beautybreakswithvicky and the amazing Shanel from Babblingon and all went together. It was a great chance to get all dolled up and go out, but seriously be careful what shoes you wear and know your limitations! I stupidly thought it would be wise to wear fairly high heels to go out and that was all well and good at 11am in the morning but by 4pm that afternoon I was teetering around the place and my feet were in agony! (Note to self: must get better at wearing heels for attending such events).

Anyway- check out some pics from the packed event! Feast your eyes on the lovely displays and treats on offer to us:

Also a few pics of me and the girls at the event- beware there is lots of pouting!

What goodies did I get?

First up, these lovely scents from So with Attitude- a great, affordable fragrance brand who were very generous and gave us all these wonderful scents to try out! My favourites have to be ‘So Rio’ body spray and ‘So Eternal’ fragrance. I remember having these back in my teenage years so this was a dose of nostalgia for me! You can find them on Instagram and Twitter @sowithattitude and at their website www.sowithattitude.com

Second up are these wonderful skin care products by Bravura London. I have heard great things from other beauty addicts and MUAs about the brand so I am very eager to try it. At the ball I had a chance to meet with the MD and have a chat about my skin and she gave me these lovely products to try and fix my congestion spots and problem areas. You can order these products from www.bravuralondon.com and find them on social media @bravuralondon.

Lipivir were giving away an array of lip products for everyone to try- they even had my old 90s favourite Heather Shimmer by Rimmel. Brought back some serious memories for me of being 13 and rocking it with bright green eyeshadow but anyhoooooo….. Thanks!!! find them on social media @lipivir or at http://www.lipivir.com

Being a nail tech as well as an MUA, I was glad to get my hands on a goody bag from professional beauty supplier Just Beauty UK. I got to try Orly FX and Bluesky polishes and a Mylee nail file! Check them out for all your professional nail care needs @justbeautyUK or on their website www.justbeauty.co.uk

Lastly I can’t wait to do this hair mask from the lovely hair care brand Vatika Naturals- I’ve heard great things about their natural products for hair and skin and I have super dry hair, so I have no doubt these coconut and garlic oil based products will do wonders for it. Find them on their social media @Vatikauk or at www.vatikanaturals.co.uk they are also sold in Superdrug!

There was more…. much much more to be done and seen here… I just couldn’t fit it all in this blog post, but check out the lovely @scarlettlondon and follow the hashtags #bloggersball on all social media, to see more great pictures of the event.

Want to join us?

You would be most welcome. The next event which is upcoming is the Bloggers Festival which is to be held in London and the lovely Conrad St James Hotel on Saturday 3rd September 2016. I will be there with bells on! come and join us!! If you would like to book tickets then you can do so here or you could contact Scarlett London via her social media handles @scarlettLevents or via her webpage www.scarlettlondon.com/sl-events

Do you have these events in your town or city? if so would love to hear about them. If you are planning on coming to the next event- please hit me up and let me know! Would be lovely to see you there!!

I have a stinking cold now and it doesn’t help that I was up at the absolute crack of dawn yesterday morning! Why? I hear you cry?

Because I had to get down to IMATS 2016 as early as humanly possible (ok…. ok so I was actually pretty late and my mate Vicky was left waiting in the cold for me but that’s another story involving a bad winged liner and an unruly strip lash) Anyway, I digress- now for the lowdown on what was hot (or not) at this years show!

What’s IMATS?

The International Make Up Artists Trade show, IMATS is a 3 day event, which takes place in various major cities across the world including NYC, LA, Sydney and Toronto. June 2016 was London’s turn. Let me tell you, if you are make up junkie addict or lover IMATS is the place to go for all your make up needs.It’s all about the weird and the wonderful, the beautiful and the bizarre! Whatever style of make up your into and whatever stage in your career your at, IMATS will cater for you. It is for everyone, from student to seasoned pro, and has everything, from Prosthetics to Mac Cosmetics- all under one roof.

When & Where

This year IMATS London was held 3-5 of June at the fabulous London Olympia National!

What can I do there?

So many fabulous brands turned up this year. Brands from many countries in the world came to show and sell their products. It really was a feast for the eyes. There were some great prosthetics displays, works of art! there was also some great fantasy body painting displays and of course competitions for professionals and students to enter. There were also some great educational demos, talks and seminars with some industry leaders and experts. Most importantly visitors are able to test, try and buy all sorts of different make up products often at discounted and trade prices.

What was hot this year?

Mermaid hair, dark lipstick, brows!!! Oh and NYX – which had a queue going round half the floor! I also saw a huge queue for a little tiny stand called Beauty B which was in the back but is great because it sells american brands which are hard to get hold of here.

What was not so hot?

The huge queues to get in to the building (not really where you want to be stuck at 9am in the morning) and then when you do finally get in the huge queues around all the popular stands and products. Some of which I couldn’t face and to be honest I had to walk away from several purchases because I didn’t want to queue. Next year i will certainly go on pro day or get there even earlier than I did this year to buy more.

What did I buy?

I made some new discoveries today guys- I decided to focus on buying from new and up and coming brands. I got to sample today is my first day discovery was a great little small stand in the back called EyeKandy Cosmetics, and they do glitters for the eyes! These are cosmetic grade, super pigmented and shiny! You know I love my glitters so I had to try some and they were doing a great show deal- six glitters for £28 and a glitter glue and a brush. I was able to than these dazzling beauties for my kit? What do you all think? Aren’t they cute? I think some of these will be great for Asian and traditional bridal looks and also prom make up. Have a look- how cute is this?

Secondly I was able to finally get my hands on and sample and try the Stylepro at the fabulous PAM London stand- a great device from Inventor Tom (Apprentice winner) designed for ease of make up brush cleaning. Now, I hate hate hate cleaning my make up brushes and as soon as this was demoed I was sold! It really is effortless cleaning and to clean and dry a very filthy foundation brush takes about 30 seconds! They were doing an IMATS deal. You get the Styler with a free Cleanser for £49.99.

I also got to meet with the founder of a new U.K. Brand called Delilah Cosmetics who were found on the Guru Make up stand. The brand has only been around for about 24 months and is very luxury. The packaging is gorgeous and the products range is fairly small at the moment however they do seem to have something for every skin type. I was able to sample the Farewell Colour Corrector & The Time Frame Foundation and they were both felt very nice on the skin and I am very tempted to go back and get the colour corrector at a later date. At the moment the brand is carried in lots of high end spas and a few high end retailers online and of course the wonderful Guru Make Up Emporium. Delilah is also carried in Space NK online also.

Finally my last purchase of the day was from a brand I hadnt heard of before. Fellow blogger- the lovely Beautybreakswithvicky pointed out the stand to me at the show -Artist of Make Up. Another great affordable, British brand created by Make up artist and Youtuber, Zukreat Nazar I was drawn to this stand because it appears the make up is designed with ethnic skin tones in mind. The foundations and the highlighters and very buttery and very yellow based. Anyone who has extremely yellow or olive undertones would get on well with this brand- and although its not a huge range the colours they do have go from very fair to very deep. The foundation I purchased was the Flawless HD cream in no 55 (with reference it’s equivalent to NC43-44 but more yellow), and it’s a fairly heavy coverage, but also creamy and nourishing with Shea butter added to the formula in order to treat and repair the skin. It comes in 8g refill pans and at the show I paid just £13.50 although full price is still only £15. I’m really excited about this brand because I have so much trouble finding decent foundations and I am eager to see its wearability and how it photographs.You can find more out about this brand website.

Check out some pics of my day here:

Look at the prosthetics and fantasy body painting and makeup!

The main stage.

Heres me and my friend Vicky half way through the day- You can’t see it but we are heavily laden with bags at this point!!!

Fancy Going? Here are some Hints and Tips:

Remember it’s a ticketed event and tickets cost £45.00 and tend to go on sale a good 8 months before the show which always takes place in June/July time. There are usually cheaper early bird tickets available too!

If you are a professional working make up Artist I would actually try getting a Pro card which means you can then go on the pro evening (which is the on the Friday evening) and is ALOT quieter. There is also the opportunity to sign up for further pro discounts with brands directly at the show so bring your proofs and credentials with you! Also try and sign up for seminars and workshops with leading industry experts which are held on the main stage. This year was Alex Box among other names – too good to miss!

If your not a pro then I would suggest getting there very early on the Saturday. I’m talking 9am sharp (with coffee and banana in hand, your gonna need sustenance). The queues get in are quite long, and there are lots of deals to be had but things sell out quickly Also this year, the Sunday tickets were dropped to half price a week or so before the event so it’s worth waiting for that or maybe even adding on an extra day if you fancy it! You can check out all the information, sign up for the pro card and buy your tickets for next year on the website.

Hope you’ve all enjoyed the long weekend – whether it be a UK Bank Holiday weekend or Memorial Weekend in the states…. or if you have been back at work today then I hope this blog post brings you some joy at least!

I had to jump on here tonight to write an emergency blog post because today -I GOT MY BECCA CHAMPAGNE COLLECTION PALETTES!!!! YAAASSSSSSS!!!

I was long awaiting the release of this Limited Edition palette and I new it would be popular, so I was determined to get it even if it killed me! Release date was 26th May 2016, the time? 5pm (GMT). I needed silence, I needed to focus! I demanded quiet from whoever was in the house at the time; the kids, the dog (yeah right!) and even the poor neighbour who was (sod’s law) at the door at five to five asking if I was coming to Zumba that night! With all distractions gone, I positioned myself at my computer, finger on the mouse, waiting with baited breath- 4.57 hit and I refreshed- Yesssss it was live!!! I clicked away, frantically loading my online basket and well- fortune favours the brave as they say! It appeared that fate was on my side (for that day at least) I was able to get one!

I was super impressed with the speed of service because I only ordered on Thursday evening and it’s made its way across the pond already (Monday and bank holiday at that). The team at Sephora are doing good!

When I hear the names Becca and Jaclyn Hill in the same sentence, I automatically think luminous, glowy, shimmering, natural and pretty and ‘for everyone;. Upon unboxing and examination – I see the these palettes have reached all those connotations and more.

Rose Spritz (o.10oz)- a lovely two toned, peachy pink, luminous blush with a golden undertone- I love love love this blush- great for all skin tones too!

They really did think of everyone with this palette because the combinations are endless- you can mix and match the shades and layer them to create any desired look and every skin tone is catered for. They really are universal and would be lovely for a classy, glowy bridal look or evening make up! This palette would be one I would reach for everyday!

The Champagne Collection Eye palette

Like the face palette, the eye palette is very universal an comes with x5 0.06 pans with creamy shades that we can all use regardless of our skin tone and complexion. The colours are as follows:

Chardonnay -golden shade with pink and yellow hues- great under brow and tear duct highlight

Cognac – matte, coffee coloured shade great for the crease and intensifying any eye look

Bordeaux -rich, deep, matte colour with deep chocolate undertones. Great for smoking out the eye, darkening the crease or cut crease looks and defining the waterline.

The eye palette can create any number of looks for any skin tones. It could be used to create soft, glowy, day make up look or dark and smoked out and packed on colour evening look. I was actually a bit dubious about buying yet another eye palette but this is gorgeous, and I love that its compact, small and great for the make up travel bag.

Edit: Becca & Jaclyn have pulled this palette! It will not be launched on 16thnjune at the restock or 21st in space NK or in store and will no longer be produced at all! The reviews on it were bad, and apparently it was produced in China in order to meet time restrictions to launch the collection by a certain date. As you can see from the swatches the palette isn’t as pigmented as some other shadows I have previously swatches and after writing my review I tested the palette out and wore it for a dinner date with my brother and I really had to prime my eyes and pack the colour on for it to be at all noticeable. After talking with other bloggers and MUA’s this week I learnt they were also disappointed with the formula of the shadows too. It seems sadly this palette was released in a rush and they have compromised on ingredients and therefore quality of the product. All palettes are being refunded apparently. I am not impressed at all and can only apologise to anyone who bought the eye palette after reading this blog and have contacted both Becca and Sephora to find out further information on being refunded and I will post an update when I have one. Disappointing to say the least! So many cosmetics companies have made major boo boos lately and everything seems to be driven by greed and social media hype! I actually think this calls for another blog post….

Fancy copping one for yourself?

Better be quick, this palette is Limited Edition….. meaning when it’s gone, its gone! It’s currently being sold on sephora.com and retails at $52 for the face palette and $40 for the eye shadow palette. It’s currently showing as SOLD OUT although it should re stock online launch in store on 16th June2016.Within the UK its due in the lovely Space NK on June 21st 2016 both in store and online- however I still don’t know the UK RRP!

If your in the UK and can’t wait for our release, you can of course order direct from Sephora and they calculate the shipping and customs at checkout- remember the more you order, the less in shipping you will pay so maybe worth clubbing together with fellow make up lovers to buy this one- however the face palette is (sensibly) limited to x3 per customer.

What do you guys think? Do you have this palette? Is it on its way to you? I for one, think on this occasion this product was worth the hype, especially the face palette! I love it and I can see myself reaching for this palette most days and I sincerely hope that Becca make it a more permanent feature!